Locusts are naturally very familiar to Li Anran, who has lived in the countryside since he was a child. Not just watched, but also played and eaten. Grab a few from the field or grass and simply roast them over a fire is a good snack.

Although in the eyes of most people, this thing has nothing to do with food at all. But for the little ones living in the countryside, the locusts, grasshoppers, insects, silkworm pupae and other insects are all delicious food.

But for Li Anran, experiencing the locust plague is still the first time in his life. Looking at the fact that from the time I received the signs of locust plague to the present, in just a few days, a very large army of locusts has been formed, and I feel a little frightened.

Because the preparations had been made beforehand, and the fields were not planted with crops but pasture. Even if the shadow of the locust plague also shrouded the Joyful Villa this time, everyone up and down did not have much emotional fluctuations.

Especially after Li Anran promulgated the notice of unlimited purchase of dried locusts, the farmers who had nothing to do for the time being because of fallow farming were all gearing up, preparing nets, sacks, and even ovens for drying dried locusts.

"Xiangyun, the livestock in Zhuangzi have all been arranged." Standing on the balcony of a newly raised third-floor building inside the manor, looking at the black spots not far away, which can be said to cover the sky, Li Anran asked without looking back.

"Young master, everything has been arranged, all the livestock have been transferred to the closed pen, and the forage and miscellaneous grains used for feeding have also been prepared in advance, enough for a month." Xiangyun, who is officially in charge of the affairs of the entire villa. Said softly.

"Very good, there must be no problems with the purchase of dried locusts, and there must be enough manpower at the waterwheel mill to grind all the dried locusts into powder as quickly as possible, do you know?" Li Anran, who nodded, commanded.

"Young master, Yun'er has written it down." Although he had already thought of these things, Xiangyun didn't say anything because of this, but just agreed very obediently.

Su Xiaomei, who was on the side, walked to the balcony with glass windows. The probe probed and looked at the army of locusts not far away. He asked again, "Young Master, can the locusts really be eaten?" ”

"Huh...... Of course you can eat it, but when the young master was young, he liked to eat this very much, and at that time, it was just a simple roast and it tasted very good. Later, I grew up. I also ate a dish made with locusts. It tastes great. Pinching the other party's nose, Li Anran smiled.

For these two sisters, Li Anran's current division of labor is very clear. Su Xiaomei, who is unwilling to take care of things. On the one hand, it is his own personal guard, and on the other hand, it also plays the role of pistachio. Xiangyun is responsible for the management of Xiaoyao Villa, Commercial Street, Xiaoyao Courtyard and other aspects, and people like Wang Youde and Chen Boyu have become her assistants.

In addition, Xiangyun also received some training similar to Su Xiaomei. On the surface, looking at Yun, this person is still the same delicate and charming image as before, but the actual combat effectiveness is often used in sentences, that is, ordinary men can't get close at all.

Coupled with a set of personal weapons specially ordered by Li Anran for the other party, not to mention that a few big men can't get close, even a dozen or twenty big men, and if one is not good, they can only hate on the spot. If you are equipped with war horses and horse war blades, this Qingqi man will not even be worse than those elite soldiers who fought last year.

I don't know if Lu Dao has a relationship with Dao soldiers, which has led to changes in Xiangyun's thinking. Or is there an unknown effect after time travel. After taking the other party and Su Xiaomei together, after traveling back and forth between modern time and space and Datang time and space a few times, through that inexplicable feeling, Li Anran found that the other party seemed to have become more loyal.

It's not clear what the reason for this change is, but it's not a bad thing. It is precisely because of this that Li Anran will confidently and boldly hand over all those mundane affairs to the other party to be responsible, and he will be the shopkeeper at ease.

"It turns out that the young master has eaten it, so let's go back and let the people below send some over, I want to try it too, but no one will get it." Seeing that there were many locusts flying into the courtyard, Su Xiaomei pouted and said.

"As long as you dare to eat, it's not easy, no one will get the young master, I will." However, this thing is just a taste of freshness, and the real use is somewhere else. Touching the other party's black and beautiful hair, Li Anran smiled.

As the three of them spoke, there were more and more locusts in the villa. The fields of pasture are as good as rice and barley bearing ears. It's a pity that the ones above are not fruits, but piles of locusts.

In the face of this kind of army of locusts, which is not an exaggeration to describe the sky and the sun, the farmers of Xiaoyao Villa did not have the slightest sadness of the disaster. From the old man in his fifties and sixties to the little guy who can already go wild.

Except for some of the chickens, ducks, and geese raised in the Zhuangzi to drive out of the locusts to eliminate the locusts, most of the people held nets and bamboo baskets that had been prepared in advance, and attacked the locusts flying all over the sky again and again.

The caught locusts will be sent to a processing room prepared in advance, and there will be a bunch of big girls and little daughters-in-law, who will carry out preliminary processing of those locusts that are not afraid of people at all, such as removing wings, heads and other parts of low value.

After the processed locusts are filled with bamboo baskets, they are sent to another room in the processing room for barbecue. Two rows of twenty ovens made of mud bricks will not take long to roast a large number of locusts into jerky.

The dried locusts are stored in warehouses and then sent by electric trucks to a watermill along the river to be processed into locust meal. The wings and heads that were removed before were not wasted, and the same processing was carried out.

However, unlike pure locust jerky, this locust meal made from "leftovers" such as wings and heads will be used as feed for poultry and livestock. And the powder made from pure locust jerky will become human food.

Considering that the value of this locust powder is the greatest, Li Anran also asked this powder to be divided into two different scales through the powder sieves of different calibers. The coarser ones are used as an ingredient, and with different ingredients, they are processed into a variety of different foods.

The kind that is delicate enough to compare with the refined flour produced in modern time and space will be made into a series of ingredients such as protein powder, muscle building powder, creatine powder, multi-dimensional elements, etc., and finally made into a so-called alternative version of the "refining medicine" that can be supplied in large quantities.

Although he didn't plan to make money through these things, he could not only benefit himself, but also brush up on Li Shimin's favorability. The most important thing is to be able to save the people from fire and water, and brush some merit and compassion for the identity of the gods in the upper realm, and naturally there is no reason to miss it.

Compared with the activities of catching locusts and deep processing in the hot swing of Xiaoyao Villa, most of the locust plague areas in the entire Kannai Province can only be described as despair and sorrow.

Vast swaths of crops are disappearing at a rate visible to the naked eye under the plague of locusts. Although it is not the harvest season, the greenhouse effect brought by the warm winter has caused the crops in the field to grow better than usual.

If it weren't for the drought over the past few days, it is estimated that there might have been a bumper harvest this year. It is a pity that the water that was brought by the common people with hard work and carried by shoulders and other methods, and the crops and seedlings that were finally saved became the rations of the locust plague.

Due to the belief and fear of the ancients in gods and Buddhas, locusts temples were built in many places, either temporary or long-lasting. In order to do so, through the means of sacrifice, pray to the so-called locust god or the heavens, so that this huge tragedy can end early.

But this prayer did not get the slightest answer, anyway, the army of locusts flying in the sky, after receiving enough food to replenish it, and the weather was now in the most suitable state of drought and heat, the rate of reproduction became faster and faster. (To be continued......)